But, if you have good technique, you'll be playing much longer than they will.

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well, one of the guys in question is easily in his 50's, and do i have "better technique". i'm only 17, and this guy's been playing (and gigging) for longer than I've been alive, and he's still going strong. i'm not saying that "bad technique" is good, or that I'd ever risk trying to play like that, i'm just saying that some people do it without any problems.

Next time I'll take the pic while live/I'm playing, it ws just a reference pic.

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There is no need. It's bad technique because having your thumb over the top like that creates tension in a part of the hand that restricts the movement of your other fingers. The photos are a perfect example. I have tiny hands and when I play over four frets I can have every finger sit on the edge of the fret as though I were intoning the note on a fretless.

Granted some bass players play like this, even high profile ones. It is bad technique all the same.

Van Halen used to play sometimes with his whole hand over the top of the fretboard, and it looked and sounded cool, but that doesn't mean its good technique. Thumb is better used as a pivot for your hand and a reference point for playing in position. But hey it looks from the pic like you have big hands so if its comfortable and you like to do it, more power to you. Just be careful if it starts to cramp your hands, that's a sure sign of problems in the future.

Brian May uses the technique and it helps him fret chords that I struggle to get close to. It may be poor technique, but look at the results people like him and Steve Harris (appalling right hand technique) get from their instruments. Both of them have been gigging longer and harder than many of us on here.

There is no need. It's bad technique because having your thumb over the top like that creates tension in a part of the hand that restricts the movement of your other fingers. The photos are a perfect example. I have tiny hands and when I play over four frets I can have every finger sit on the edge of the fret as though I were intoning the note on a fretless.

Granted some bass players play like this, even high profile ones. It is bad technique all the same.

Just get another finger. With five fingers, and a thumb, you can keep your thumb on the back of the neck, keep your palm away from the neck like it should be, and still reach all those crazy notes all at once.

In all seriousness, the bass only has 4 strings, what's a thumb going to reach that one of your fingers can't? More importantly, how strong/graceful is the placement/fretting of the thumb going to be?

Examples of longtime pro's using bad technique is not any reason to start down that road! A lot of famous musicians could play better than anyone while being drunk or high, doesn't mean you should too!

Besides, most of the examples are guitarists, which as we all know, is a smaller neck requiring less pressure to get the proper tone. It's wrong on a guitar too, but they can get away with it more. If some bassists have done it for 30+ years the wrong way, more power to them. I wouldn't risk getting cramps and other side-effects, just because you'd have to take time to learn the proper technique!